How we fell in love
by scoob2222
Summary: [My Bodyguard] This is a Ricky and Shelley story. It will follow their relationship as they fall in love.
1. Chapter 1: Getting to Know You

Shelley sighed from her desk in the back of the classroom. Two months ago when she had gotten over her ridiculous crush on the ungettable and ultimately complete jerk that was Melvin Moody she had promised to never do that again. She was never going to go insane over a guy she had no chance with, period, end of story.

That had lasted for about two seconds.

Not that she blamed herself. I mean who would have suspected that the once closed off, and slightly frightening Ricky Linderman, would actually turn out to be the vulnerable, angst filled, gorgeous hunk of a hero that was sitting diagonally from her at this very moment.

Sitting and chatting with a very blonde Carly Turlington. Well she was talking; he was staring at her boobs, which she was very obviously flashing as she bent over to talk.

And that was her problem, because her boobs did not look anything like Carly Turlington's. Hers, were okay, but they weren't, like anything spectacular. They couldn't single handedly, or should she say single breastedly capture a guy's attention.

She couldn't entirely blame herself for going back on her promise. After all, when she started feeling like this for Ricky, he was not being swarmed by girls like Carly. In fact, except for their small group of mis-fit friends, he was completely asocial. Then he had beaten that guy Mike up and forget it, he had become the #1 get for the most popular girls in school.

Not that he had ditched the group, he would never do that. He still ate with Cliff and all of them everyday, he was just accompanied by his girlfriend of the day, or a few of his girlfriends of the day. It made it impossible to stay away from him, and at the time, made her completely invisible to him. It was a no win situation for her. She might as well give up.

Sighing again, she returned to the assignment and forced herself to ignore everything else.

Damn this girl was annoying. I mean seriously, not a single interesting sentence had come out of her mouth in the nearly 15 minutes she was talking. And she has talked the entire time, he frankly wondered how she was getting enough air to her brain…on second thought that was probably a really dumb question.

Since she was there and she didn't appear to be leaving anytime soon, he took the opportunity to ogle her chest. I mean come on, he was a teenage boy and this girl was practically shoving her perfect DD breasts in his face. Who would refuse an invitation like that?

But after a while even that got old. The talking became more like shrill yelling and all he wanted was to get away.

Two months ago, when he and Cliff had taken on Mike and Melvin he'd quickly found himself surrounded by girls only to eager to gets their claws into "hunky Ricky." For a while it had been fun, after a year of ignoring everyone he found himself with dozens of dates, a different girl everyday.

But the girls were getting to be more of an irritation that anything else. In fact, he really preferred hanging out with Cliff and Shelley and the gang.

Shelley. He snuck a look back at her, studying her profile as she bent over her work, writing furiously. He'd kind of been disappointed that while tons of girls flirted with him everyday, Shelley seemed to clam up around him. He actually thought she might not like him at all. Around Cliff and the others she was a chatterbox, moving from one subject to another with speed and efficiency. But unlike the girl currently sitting in front of him Shelley was actually interesting, and even though she loved to talk, she had no problem listening. In fact most of the boys unloaded their problems on her shoulders, grateful for her words of advice.

Except him. He seemed unable to get up the nerve to talk to her. And the few times he made the attempt she went out of her way to avoid being alone with him. If it wasn't for the few times he'd caught her staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking he might have given up all hope.

Suddenly the teacher's voice broke through his thoughts, "Okay class, you can finish the rest of your assignment for homework. Right now, I'd like you to work on your interview skills." She paused as she handed out papers, "Pick a partner and take turns asking them the questions on the sheet. You'll use these sheets to write a short biography on your partner."

Ricky stiffened as Carly turned toward him with her sheet when the teacher's voice rang out, "Carly, I think you and Ricky know plenty about each other since you've been talking for half the class. Why don't you partner with Matthew and Ricky, you can be Shelley's partner."

Ricky forced his face to remain impassive as he switched seats with Matthew and then pulled the chair so he and Shelley sat face to face.

"Hi."

Shelley blushed on every body part that was visible to his eyes and he couldn't stop his smirk as she finally managed to say "Hi," in return.

"So what's your full name?"

"Huh?" Shelley asked, her blush going nowhere. His face widened in a real smile, "For the interview, the first question is what is your full name?"

"Oh," she said, "Shelley Marie Danes."

"That's pretty."

"What's yours?"

"Richard Linderman."

"You don't have a middle name?"

"My mother thinks their pointless. Favorite color?"

"Yellow."

"You never wear yellow," he says before he can stop himself.

"My mother thinks I look terrible in it." He silently thanks anyone who is listening that she didn't realize he'd just confessed to paying attention to what colors she wears. "What's yours?

"Green. Favorite thing you own."

"The blanket my parents covered me in when I came home from the hospital. My grandmother knitted it for me. What about you?"

"A G.I. Joe. It was my brother's favorite toy." His face dropped in grief.

Shelley's face softened in sympathy, "What was he like, your brother?"

"Is that on the questionnaire?" Ricky all but snarled at her.

Shelley's eyes widened and filled, "No, sorry, uh what's your uh, favorite food?"

He cursed out loud, not at her, but at himself. Everything had been going great and now he'd scared her. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just,…don't like talking about my brother, or I guess I'm just not used to it. It's only been a few months since I've actually talked about how he died and….listen I just don't want to talk about it."

Shelley's eyes returned to normal size and she gave him a small smile, "It's okay, when my grandmother died, I couldn't talk about her for a long time. I know it's not the same, but if you ever do want to talk about it, I'm a pretty good listener. And not just about your brother, but other stuff too."

Ricky, despite the awkwardness of the topic, felt elated. She was giving him an invitation that he thought he'd never get. Clearly, she didn't hate him; maybe she even liked him, just a little bit. Before he could stop himself he reached over and put his hand over hers, shocked by how tiny it felt surrounded by his huge meaty paw. He saw her start in shock and then the blush was back, deeper then before. Suddenly the air around him felt very thick.

"So," he asked, "What's next?"


	2. Chapter 2: Hamlet for Breakfast

It was a Saturday. It was 8 am. And he was on his way to school. And it really, really sucked.

But he'd missed a ton of classes earlier in the year and Ms. Jump had informed him that he needed at least a B on his paper to pass for the semester. Unfortunately he had to write the paper on William Shakespeare's _Hamlet_, a whiny mope fest that might as well be written in Greek for all her understood of it.

So, here he was, on his way to get extra help. He swung open the door to Ms. Jump's classroom and froze as he came face to face with Shelley Danes.

"You're late," she said, and then her eyes widened as though surprised by the words that came out of her mouth.

"Sorry," he replied," Where's Ms. Jump?"

"She's in the library with Mike Hanlon, helping him with his paper."

"Oh, she was supposed to help me with mine. What are you doing here?"

"Ms. Jump asked me to come in and help a student with his paper. I'm guessing that student is you?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm here."

"Well, then I guess we should get started."

They sat facing each other in the small desk and he felt the insane need to squirm. He and Shelley had not spoken alone since the day of the interview. That day he'd been thrilled to discover that she seemed to have some interest in him, but it was two weeks later and he had been unable to find another perfect opening. There always seemed to be friends surrounding them. Everytime he thought he'd cornered some alone time with her Clifford and the guys would show up, or Jennifer would have a fashion emergency

But here it was—opportunity staring him in the face.

"So," Shelley began, "You're having some problems with _Hamlet._"

"Yeah."

"What part exactly?"

"Pretty much the whole thing."

She giggled and he laughed lowly in response.

When they quieted down she tried again, "Okay, well then let's start with Hamlet. What do you think about him?"

"I think he's pretty much a whiny, pathetic loser. All he does is sulk and treat everyone like crap."

"Why do you think that is?"

"His father is murdered and then he spends the whole play making dumb mistakes instead of dealing with it."

He paused when Shelley began to laugh and asked, "What? What's so funny?"

Shelley, who could barely contain her giggles attempted to calm herself, "Nothing it's just that the way you described Hamlet is exactly the way you were a few months ago."

He frowned at the comparison, "I am not whiny, or pathetic," he all but snarled, forgetting himself in his sudden irritation. He was not a whiny little would-be prince.

Shelley seemed to catch on and sobered immediately, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of you. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain." His continued silence caused her to redden further and finally to speak again, "I just meant that when I read _Hamlet_ I couldn't help thinking of you."

His head shot up before he could stop it, immediately enjoying the idea that she spent time thinking of him. "Why did you think of me?"

Shelley's face got progressively redder and her words got faster as she spoke, "Well, see Hamlet experienced this horrible loss. His father died and he blames himself and everyone else. He suspects his uncle did it, but instead of getting help he relies on no one but himself. That's why he ultimately dies, because he gets caught up in his own anger and pain and it blinds him to everything around him."

"So you're saying I remind you of a guy on the way to complete disaster and death. Gee, thanks, Shell." Forget opportunity, hell forget her. He didn't need some broad who thought he was a crazy, freaky killer.

"No, no, no," she rushed the words out, "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" his words were low and forceful, meant to scare her off, but she pretty much ignored them in her hurry to explain herself.

"I meant that you were on that path. You were angry and grieving and sad all the time. You wouldn't let anyone in and you were totally closed off. But that's not true anymore. You have friends, you talk to people, and you're nothing like him now. You're actually really…"

He leaned forward on his arms, so his face as only inches from hers and urged her to continue.

She was blushing again and staring down at her hands, and at his hands which were laying right next to hers, almost touching. "I think you're really kind of amazing. The way you stood up to Moody and that guy Mike. The way you dealt with everything going on in your life and didn't let anyone scare you away again. I think you're pretty much the bravest guy I've ever met." Shelley's face was bright red and she pulled her hands away from where they rested against his and looked up at him as he stared at her in dazed shock. "Well, we really better get started studying _Hamlet_. You need to write that paper."

Despite his confusion and amazement he managed to realize that this was the moment he was looking for and he was not going to miss it this time.

"You know," he said, reaching across the desk and putting his hand over hers, just like the last time they were in this room. Only this time he curled his hand around hers until it opened, until he could twine their fingers together. "I think that I've got Hamlet down now."

"We haven't even…"

"But there are tons of other characters that we need to talk about. It's probably going to take a while. But I think to get the rest of it I'm going to need some breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Yeah, I've got my bike. We could go to the diner, get some real good, talk about…Hamlet."

Shelley smiled, although it was still hesitant and nodded.

"And maybe tonight, we could do something, a movie or something?"

Shelley's smile could have lit the entire city as she nodded again. She grabbed her bag and was surprised to feel a hand grab hers. She looked down at their interlocked fingers and up into his face. He smiled in what he hoped was a seductive and inviting way. It must have worked because her hand grasped his in return as they walked out of the class.


	3. Chapter 3: First Dates, First Disasters

Excitement was not strong enough a word to describe Shelley Dane's emotions an hour before her date with the man of her dreams, Ricky Linderman. She had been shocked when their early morning tutoring session had turned into several hours of talking and flirting at a nearby diner. Flirting. She had flirted with a boy and he had flirted back. This was the best day ever.

And it wasn't even over. After the diner staff had kicked them out to start lunch Ricky had driven her home, ON HIS BIKE and asked her to go to a movie. And in a little over an hour she and Ricky were going to be sitting side by side in a darkened theater. Maybe tonight she would even get her first kiss.

Forcing herself to stop daydreaming she went back to fixing her hair. She didn't want to be even a minute late for her date.

This was not the way that the night was supposed to turn out. For one thing he had not planned for Clifford and the gang to show up at the movies. He also did not think that Clifford, his best friend Clifford, who observed the world from afar and saw things a mile before anyone else, would not realize he was on a date with Shelley and would drag them into the movie theater to watch the crappy slasher flick of the week.

The flick was supposed to be crappy. He had picked it specifically because he hope that Shelley would be frightened and bury her face in his shoulder, giving him the opportunity to put his arm around her. Then, after the movie was over, he'd take her home and walk her to the door and kiss her goodnight and then he would finally be dating Shelley Danes.

It had been the perfect plan.

Until it all went to hell. Now he was watching the dumbest movie ever with Clifford at his side and Shelley on the opposite end of the row trying to catch his eyes over Jennifer's head as she blabbed on and on.

Just perfect.

Well that was the worst first date ever, not that it was Ricky's fault. The gang had pretty much attacked them and dragged them away from each other. Not even Jennifer, who knew how deep her crush on Ricky went, noticed what was going on as she dragged her to the opposite side of the row from the boys. ARGH! So much for best friends and their power of intuition.

When the movie finally let out, Ricky quickly moved to stand closer to her and she was finally able to get out of Jen's grasp for two seconds. But then everything went from bad to worse when Clifford offered her a ride home.

"No," Ricky said quickly," I got my bike. I'll take her."

"But Shelley lives right near the hotel. It's completely out of your way to drive her."

"Really, I don't mind. Its fine," Ricky answered and his words were quick and snappy.

"No, it's fine," this time it was Cliff's driver that spoke, "It's late and it'll be safer if we take Shelley home. Just get yourself home before it gets too late, okay Ricky?"

Knowing there was no way out of it now, she had gently squeezed Ricky's hand until he looked down at her, "Really it's fine. It's out of your way so, it's fine," she repeated the words and then nodded before heading for the car.

Half and hour later and Shelley was sitting at her desk wondering if she had missed my chance. After all, Ricky dated a new girl every single week. And those girls were gorgeous with perfect bodies and they still couldn't hold Ricky's attention. So, how could she?

Just then her phone rang. Wondering who could be calling, and not wanting to wakeup her parents she answered quickly.

"Hello."

"Shelley. It's Ricky."

"Oh," she stumbled and cursed herself, "Hi Ricky."

"Come and open your front door," was all he said before hanging up.

Frowning she ran down the stair and opened the door, excepting to and still somewhat shocked when she saw him on the other side, "Ricky, what are you doing here?"

"I am so sorry about tonight, Shell. Everything got screwed up."

She couldn't help but smile. He had come all the way over here to make her feel better, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault—it just kind of happened."

"Well anyway, I was kind of hoping, maybe we could try it again sometime. Maybe next weekend."

She forced herself not to squeal with joy, but it was not an easy thing, "I…I would like that very much."

Then Ricky smiled at her in a way she had never seen before and she realized that she, Shelley Marie Danes had made him smile like that.

"Okay then," Ricky said, "I guess I'll see you on Monday."

Ricky turned and walked halfway down the front walk before turning around and coming back. Before Shelley could ask what he was doing he leaned in and softly brushed his lips against hers. Shelley was stunned motionless for a moment before getting a hold of herself and kissing him back.

The kiss was gentle and sweet and over before she knew it.

"I planned for the night to end that way," Ricky said, "so at least part of the date happened the way it was supposed to."

Kissing her lightly once more he turned and left her standing there in shock. As far as first dates go this was defiantly the better than she could ever have imagined it.


	4. Chapter 4: Second Try, Second Kiss

Two weeks after the first date that had started great, had gone downhill and then ended absolutely perfectly, and she still hadn't had more than five minutes alone with Ricky. It seemed like some kind of plot to keep them apart.

Anytime they tried to plan a date, one of the gang would come by and announce their plans for the weekend. Then she'd had to baby sit her cousins all of last weekend and everyday after school. Not to mention actual schooling.

All of this left little time for dating.

And little to no time for more kisses. It seemed like years since that perfect first kiss on her doorstep. The more she replayed it in her mind the more she wanted another one. And she was wanted it before Ricky decided he was tired of a girlfriend who he couldn't see for more than three minute stretches of time.

Not that she was his girlfriend. At least, she didn't think so, but a second date would suggest some sort of prolonged attachment. If only they could get to a second date.

He must be getting punished for something. That was the only explanation for why he could not get Shelley to himself long enough to talk to her, let alone get in a second kiss. And after that first kiss on her doorstep he wanted another one more than he'd ever wanted anything.

But the gang, and school and babysitting were all plotting against him in his quest for a little time with Shelley and her amazing lips.

Since they had only had one date, he hadn't wanted to tell the gang about it. And they had acted like nothing more than friends for two weeks.

He couldn't handle another week of looking, but not being able to touch.

So, he did the only rational thing he could think of.

He kidnapped her.

"Ricky?"

"Right here. Don't take off the blindfold."

"I'm not, but…I've had it on for the whole trip on your bike and now I don't even know where we are."

"Come on Shelley, don't you trust me?"

She giggled in response to his teasing tone, "Of course I do, but I still want to know what's going on?"

"Just hang on one second, babe, I just have to finish setting up."

"Setting up," she said, ignoring the momentary shudder the endearment caused, and focusing on what was going on around her, "Setting what up?"

"Take off the blindfold and see."

Slowly, she reached around and undid the knot, pulling off the blindfold and allowing her eyes to readjust to the light. When they did she felt her face split in a huge smile, "A picnic."

"Yeah, well this was the only place I knew no one would find us."

Shelley took the time took look around and realized they were in a secluded part of one of the nearby parks. The trees around them separated them from most of the other park dwellers.

"Ricky, this is so sweet."

He blushed slightly, which made her smile, and quickly ducked his head and said sarcastically, "Well, don't be too impressed. I can't cook, so our picnic is pretty much just pb&j sandwiches."

"Well," Shelley said, sitting on the blanket he set out, "PB & J are my favorite. Plus, it's unlikely that Cliff or Jenny are going to come running around the corner at us."

"Don't tempt fate," he warned as he sat down across from her.

"It has been kind of crazy the way that our friends seem to find us everywhere they go."

"Crazy and cruel. I thought after a while they would figure it out, but they didn't. Finally, I just told Cliff. He'll spread it around so maybe we'll actually get through five minutes alone."

Shelley, who had been quietly picking on her sandwich stopped and asked, "What did you tell Clifford?"

"Oh…uh…" Ricky stammered as if trying to get the words right.

As Ricky searched for the words, Shelley blushed again feeling suddenly very uncomfortable and nervous, "Oh, I didn't mean to…"

"No, uh, I told him that we were dating." The words seemed to come out as more of a growl than actual speech.

"You did?" Shelley's question was filled with hope and disbelief.

"Yeah, I mean, that's okay that I said that right. I wanted to talk to you about it first, but the way the guys were hounding us, I thought I'd never get you alone again, and I'd never get to kiss you again…"

"You want to kiss me again?"

Ricky wanted desperately to disappear at that moment. He'd had this all planned. Asking her to be his girlfriend at the romantic picnic and instead he'd blurted out that he'd been calling her his girlfriend and that he was desperate to kiss her again. He wasn't sure if this could get any more screwed up.

Finally, he decided it was too late to do anything but tell the truth, "Yeah, I do."

"And you want us to…date?"

"Yeah."

Their was a very brief silence before Shelley rose on her knees, leaned over the picnic basket and kissed him—quickly and softly. As she began to pull back, his hand came up to her arms, holding her in place as he kissed her again. They kissed again and again—hesitant, brief, shy kisses—just like their first kiss—until, almost at the same time their mouths opened to deepen the kiss, Ricky's tongue sliding against hers in a way that made them yearn to be even closer.

And laying side by side on the blanket, picnic, friends, and nervousness forgotten, Ricky and Shelley finally shared their second kiss.


	5. Chapter 5: Holding out for a hero

Shelley was speaking in a steady stream as she led Ricky in through her front door. Well, more scolding then talking.

"I don't know what you were thinking Ricky. You could have seriously been hurt. You can't just go around punching people."

"I'm fine Shelley, don't overreact. It's just a little cut."

"ON YOUR HEAD! You could have a concussion."

"That guy couldn't have given me a concussion if he hit me over the head with a boulder. It was barely even a fight."

Shelley glared as she cleaned his wound with peroxide, "Except he hit you and you're bleeding."

"Once. He got once hit in and it was complete luck. It's no big deal."

"Fighting is a big deal Ricky. This wasn't like when you fought Melvin or Mike. You had no choice then; you were defending Clifford and yourself. Who were you protecting by attacking him, it was pointless."

"Just forget it Shelley. I'm sorry about the fight okay, let just forget it."

"No, I want to know what you were fighting about," she said as she bandaged the wound on his head.

"Listen, Shell, I said I was sorry. I got out of control and I promise it won't happen again, so can we just forget about it."

She took a step back from the side of the coach where he sat perched and put her hands on his hips. They'd been together nearly three weeks and it had taken him less than half that time to learn to recognize when Shelley meant business. She wasn't going to let this go.

"Okay," he took a deep breath as he tried to figure out a way to talk around what had really happened, "He was just saying some stuff, pretty nasty stuff and I couldn't take it anymore. I just snapped."

"What kind of stuff? Was he insulting you?"

"Kind of. Listen what he said doesn't matter. After today no one will say stuff like that again, so we can just forget it."

"Forget what? What could he have said to make you that upset? You never care what anyone says about you?"

"Shelley.."

"In fact most of the time you're the one telling me to ignore the idiots at school, so why would you,"

"Shell."

"Even bother to get so worked up over some stupid."

"HE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU, OKAY?" he practically screamed it, and then, worried that he would scare her he forced himself to calm down, "He was insulting you, so I shut him up."

Shelley said nothing for a minute and her head hung down. He was worried she was crying but then she looked up and asked, "What kinds of stuff?"

"It doesn't matter, Shell. The guy was an idiot. I should have just told him to go to hell and walked away, but..."

"But what he was saying must have been pretty bad for you to get that mad. Was he calling me fat? Brace face? Brillo head? What was it this time?"

"Shell, don't even say things like that, cause you'll just get me going again. He was an idiot."

"He probably was, but you can't beat up every idiot who says something bad about me. Most of the girls and guys have something nasty to say about everyone. Besides it's not like most of it's not true. My hair is horrible, and I'm f…"

"Hey, don't ever talk about yourself like that again. Nothing that guy said was true. And I don't care that I hit him, I don't. You're my girl and you're smart and gorgeous and better than any of those other losers at school and anyone who says different is going to hear from me."

When he finished his rant he realized Shelley was staring at him with a small smile on her face. It was a smile he'd never seen before and it was making me nervous, "What?"

"I'm…your girl."

"Well, yeah, you didn't know that."

"No, I mean we said we were dating, but I wasn't sure."

"Have you seen me with any other girls lately?"

"No, but…."

"But what? You're not seeing anyone else are you?" this was said in a growl so low it almost sounded like an animal.

"No," she said as she rolled her eyes, "Of course not, I just, I figured eventually you'd move on to the next girl. I mean tons of girls ask you out everyday. Even in front of me."

"And I tell them no. I'm not available. Why would you think that I'm sick of you? We're together all the time and I still can't get enough of you."

"Really?" her smile was small and shy.

"Really, and I haven't done anything to make you think otherwise? So what's with doubting me all of a sudden?"

Shelley sighed, and just like Ricky had before tried to decide how much to tell him, "It's just I'm not exactly the most attractive girl at school." At his protest she held up her hand, "Please, just let me finish," he nodded and she continued, "All the girls you dated before me were gorgeous, blonde, perfect bodies. I…I don't look like them. My body's got too many curves, my hairs always out of control; I have these stupid braces that make me look like some sort of science experiment gone wrong. You could find a prettier girl to date in a minute."

"You must be completely blind Shelley. You are the most gorgeous girl in school. All those other girls are boring, they dress alike, they talk alike, they think alike. You, you think what you want and you have no problem telling everyone what that is. There is no one like you Shelley Danes, and I would be crazy to even look sideways at another girl."

Shelley nodded, but stayed silent.

Ricky sighed and pulled her closer into the space between his legs. He waited until she was looking at him and leaned up to press his lips to hers. He pressed up, his tongue demanding entrance into her mouth. He'd never kissed her like this before. He'd always been slow, gentle, making sure he wasn't moving too fast, that he wasn't spooking her. Now, he was demanding and possessive, refusing to pull back until he couldn't breathe.

As he pulled back he smiled at her dazes expression.

"That…" she could barely breathe, "That was different."

He tried to catch his own breath, "That's how I want to kiss you all the time. But there's always people around, our friends, teachers, but if I always had you to myself, I don't think I could ever stop kissing you like that. I want you Shelley all the time, you, not anyone else."

Shelley finally smiled back and gave him a short kiss, "So, if I'm your girl, does that make you my guy?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then, in all this conversation, we seem to have missed something."

"What's that?"

"There's nobody here now. No friends, no teachers, no parents. At least," she glanced back at the clock, "Not for another hour. And you did get hurt defending me today, so maybe I should…thank you."

Leering slightly he pulled her even closer and began to lean back so they were both lying on the coach, "Thank away, babe."


	6. Chapter 6

This was really, really amazing. Amazing in that romance novel sort of way when he slid his hand down along the side of her face before kissing her so gently. And hot in that adult movie you catch glimpses of sort of way when he nestled his long, hard body between her legs.

Very hot.

And very, very hard.

Which was wonderful and amazing and she knew all of the steps so she wasn't freaking out.

Then his hand slid up from her waist and brushed along the underside of her breast. Her breath hitched, but she remained calm. They were teenagers and teenagers who were dating kissed, and groped. It was normal.

But then his hand slid higher, big and strong it covered her entire breast and squeezed.

Her hands were pushing him away and she was off the bed before he even knew what was happening. He flopped back for a moment confused, before blushing contritely.

"Sorry, Shell," he whispered, "I just, my hand just kind of moved."

She narrowed her eyes, "Your hand can move on its own, without the help of your brain?"

He leered at her, "Lots of my body parts move without the help of my brain…especially when you're around."

She was the one blushing now as she ducked her head down and looked away from him. When she looked back his face was intense, "Seriously, babe, I didn't mean to push. You know I'm good at going at whatever speed you want."

"Yeah, but you must be thinking about it, or you wouldn't have…" her hand moved in a grabbing motion that made him chuckle.

"Of course I've thought about it. I mean, I'm a 16 year old guy, it's kind of a constant thought in my mind, plus I have this really, really hot girlfriend."

"Yean?"

He rolled his eyes, "Would you get back over here. I promise my hands will stay firmly at 10 and 2 this time."

She smiled and headed back over to the bed, letting him pull her close so they were side by side.

He kissed her, soft and sweet and she was sure her heart melted instantaneously.

She pulled back and he smiled at her, "I'm sorry that I'm not, you know ready to…" she gestured again. Of all the times for words to fail her.

"Shelley, I told you that it's fine. I don't want you doing anything that your not ready for," he stopped for a moment, he had his thinking expression on, which cause her to ask "Ricky, what's wrong?" without even really thinking about it.

"Well, it's just….I love kissing you, and we can do that and nothing else for as long as you want. I mean that, okay?" At her nod he continued, "I'm just wondering if the reason you don't want anything more is because you're nervous I won't like touching you."

She was at a loss for words. Sure she'd told him about some of her insecurities, but she'd never gone into the whole truth about them. She'd thought she'd hidden it better.

"And this is not about sex, not at all. I mean, well it is because like I said, I'm a teenage boy, but I'm not trying to rush you. We've only been dating a few months and I know that you're not ready, I'm not ready either, but we've been dating for three months and you tense when my hands move anywhere but your waist. You don't seem to believe me when I say I think you're beautiful and I want to be with you, to…touch you."

Shelley had her eyes closed when she spoke, "I know you think you do. I mean you say you're attracted to me and it's not that I think your lying, it's just, I'm not used to anyone finding me attractive. No one really has before and I….don't want that to change."

"Shelley, look at me," she reluctantly opened her eyes, "We may have done nothing but kiss yet, but I've hugged you, held you, felt you pressed against me, and I like it, which I'm sure is pretty obvious to you," he waggles his eyebrows at her and she giggles, "So, I'm still not pushing, but will you are least think about what I'm saying and try to believe me."

Shelley was quiet as she stared into his eyes, so clear and gorgeous she could stare at them forever. She took a deep breathe and then pulled away a little, moving her hands to the top button of her shirt, undoing the buttons one by one, before pulling it off completely. When she looked back up, Ricky was staring at her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, it made her giggle, which made his eyes open even wider.

When he finally managed to look up into her eyes again….and it was a good long while later, he brought his lips to hers before whispering, "You sure about this Shell."

She kissed him sweetly, trembling as his hands held her waist, his thumb moving on her bare skin, "No," she whispered, "But I trust you."

"You're so beautiful."

She smiled at him again, "Show me."


End file.
